


Pet Project

by thelonebamf



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: AU, Gen, call it puppy love, domestic AU, silly fluff really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 20:26:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8116360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelonebamf/pseuds/thelonebamf
Summary: With the upcoming Science Fair on the horizon, Hal is inspired to try his hand at a little “creative engineering”, but the result is not quite what he expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was another one of those late night fluffy ideas that came to me and refused to leave until I wrote it out. Just a little something short and sweet.

3:25 PM. The door to the small apartment swung wide open and shut just as quickly, giving just enough space for a small boy and overstuffed backpack to squeeze by, turning the latch behind him. Though no one else was at home, he quickly ran to his room and shut that door as well, before throwing his bag onto the bed, immediately rifling through it for buried treasure.

He smoothed the paper out on his desk, knocking over a cup of pens and half-finished model in the process and read over the bold text for the eighth time that day.

“YOUNG INVENTORS - DISTRICT COMPETITION”

Hal smiled.

* * *

It hadn’t taken much to sell the idea to his father, in truth the hardest part had been staying up late enough to greet him after work.

“This is a great idea, Hal,” the man had said, with surprising enthusiasm. “I’ve got some ideas you can use. Blueprints. It’s all pretty technical stuff… I mean obviously I’ll be supervising you while you assist…”

“I’d kind of thought I might…”

“There’s more than one design for some bipedal mechanics that I never got to tinker with on a large scale, but who knows, maybe if you do a good enough job presenting at the competition the ideas could pick up a little traction… might make it to some local media…”

Hal went to bed before his father had finished unearthing his old research.

* * *

It was the first time he’d participated in anything like this, the first time he’d been old enough, but he could already feel his enthusiasm waning. That first week, his classmates had been buzzing with any number of ideas, half stolen from comic books and cartoons, and he couldn’t help but feel… envious. Even if he knew the odds of working  X-Ray glasses or jet-powered boots being created by his fellow-twelve year olds were slim.

“How’s your invention coming along, Hal?”

He looked up into the face of his teacher, a kind, but weary looking woman- the blonde all but faded from her hair. She’d always had something of a soft spot for Hal, recognizing him immediately as a bright child in desperate need of some direction.

“S'fine… I guess.”

“You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“Well it’s just… I don’t know if…” He clicked the end of his pencil a few times before pressing the lead against his desk, swallowing the tiny line of black. It was nice… in a way, to get to work on something with his father, but there was some nagging part of him that felt like he should be doing more. As it was, he just hung around in the workshop while his father worked, keeping out of the way, but paying close attention in case the man needed anything. Sometimes, he would even call Hal over and explain some of what he was doing.

Still… it didn’t feel like the project was… his.

“I’m just not sure if I like what I’m working on,” he admitted.

“Well it’s early days yet. There’s plenty of time to start over. Why not think about what you really want to do.”

“How do I know what that is?”

“Hmm.” She tapped her lip thoughtfully. “You know they say ‘Necessity is the mother of all invention’- try to think of a problem, something that affects you, or someone you know, and think of a way to solve it.”

Hal nodded, mind already turning over a half dozen ideas.

“I think I can do that.”

* * *

It didn’t look like much, that was for sure. But Hal had had to make do with what he could find around the apartment, things he already owned and small supplies that wouldn’t be missed from his father’s workbench. Screws. Wire. Electrical tape. Aluminum foil from the kitchen. The hard part was finding time to work on his project, but he managed, tinkering in his bedroom after school until his father arrived in the evening. There was a lot of research to be done as well, and more than once he had fallen asleep with the sheets pulled over his head, flashlight lit at his side.

At least now he had a prototype.

He felt a little proud to say it. His first prototype.

There was just the little matter of testing.

* * *

Hal knew his father would have frowned at him riding his bike anywhere without his helmet, but as it had been an integral part of the design, it seemed safer to carry it in his backpack, and just take it very, very slowly on his way to the park.

It was a busy day, and from his spot on the bench he could see any number of couples and families doing everything from rollerblading to playing frisbee. Not a bad spot for his first test run.

He set his bag down and unzipped it, taking care not to damage his creation as his pulled it out. It seemed to have survived the journey just fine, and he enjoyed a moment of self satisfaction at the quality of his handiwork.

Admittedly, most of the pieces were held on with electrical tape, and the aluminum foil on the sides was really just for show, but those were all things that could be worked out in later models. For now, his priority was to see if it worked.

Taking a last glance around, Hal slipped the helmet onto his head.

“Hello?” He spoke nervously into the speaker, fiddling with some of the dials near his ear until the background static dissipated. “My name is Hal.”

“Are there any dogs here?”

There was no answer, but the boy didn’t lose faith just yet. Perhaps another circle around the park, further from the playground would yield better results. He took his bike a bit further down the path, helmet still firmly strapped in place. Every hundred feet or so he paused to hop off of his bike and make another call.

“Hi. I’m over here by the fountain. If anyone wants to come say hi, I have some peanut butter crackers and you can have some.”

Just as he was getting ready to ride off to the next spot, he paused and looked down into a pair of big brown eyes.

“Hello! Hi! Did you hear me? Did you come to say hello?” Hal began digging into his pockets for the promised treat, sending coins and bits of paper to the ground.

The dog, a small brown mutt with floppy ears and coarse hair, watched him curiously, head held at an angle as she watched him frantically searching, rambling all the while.

“So did you understand what I said? I’ve been riding around the park trying to find… I mean I can see other dogs, but most of them look busy so maybe they can’t… my name is Hal, or did you know that already? Did you want one of these crackers? It has a little bit of… let me just brush that off okay… peanut butter is okay for dogs, I read that in a book. What’s your name? Is it okay if I pet you?”

The dog sniffed at his shoe.

Hal leaned down to offer the crackers to the dog, who nibbled at them cautiously before wolfing the entire thing down with wag of her tail and an appreciative lick of his hand.

“Hungry, huh? I should probably have brought some more stuff but I wasn’t sure it it would work. See I made this,” he pointed to the contraption on his head, “and it’s what lets me talk to you. I mean, I think it’s working. Is it?”

He received only a stare and plying nose at his hand in response.

“Cali?” A woman’s voice came calling from the grass. “Cali, girl? You over here?”

The dog looked up abruptly and took off at the sound of her name, leaving Hal wondering if his invention had worked at all. He’d managed to call Cali over, talked with her for a time, but he couldn’t be sure she’d understood. If only there was a way for him to…

…of course. He’d been silly. It wasn’t enough just to send a signal out, he had to devise a means of listening as well. It might not have been a wholly successful test run, but every bit of new information was valuable, and he was already thinking about what he might be able to put together at home.

* * *

It was deep in the night when he finished his work, sacrificing the microphone that was a part of his father’s tape recorder, silently praying it wouldn’t be noticed. His fingers were sore from the twisting of wires and more than one bandage had been unwrapped when he got a little overzealous with the pliers. But it was done.

Even though it was a saturday, it was much too late to go venturing out into the park again, but Hal was eager to try out his modifications. Maybe he would luck out tonight. He knew the complex allowed dogs (he’d tried dropping hints to his father, with no luck) but thus far had only seen the occasional chihuahua or spaniel turning the corner on a leash.

Still, it was worth a shot.

“Hello?” He spoke softly, not sure about the signal strength of his device, and not wanting to hurt the sensitive ears of his targets. “Anyone awake? My- my name is Hal. Can anyone hear me?”

More static, a soft buzzing occasionally punctuated with a high pitched whine and the vague interference of a local radio station until Hal fiddled with the dials enough to tune it out.

“Hello? My name is Hal. I just wanted to see if you could understand me.”

More crackling and then-

“….Who’s there?”


End file.
